


Spellbound

by Songbird321



Series: Eremin Week 2015 [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: All that Harry Potter fun, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Crossover, Developing Relationship, M/M, Magic, Mixed with Eremin fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 12:51:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4829783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Songbird321/pseuds/Songbird321
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The progression of Armin and Eren's relationship through all seven of their years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spellbound

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Almost done with the Eremin Week prompts, but here's the one for Crossover Day! As you can probably tell, I chose a Harry Potter au and all the fun one can have with that! I will say that it's a bit jumpy: I have one major scene per year, so of course there are pieces missing, but this was a prompt fill for one day. I didn't have the time to go into the details. (Maybe I will one day...)
> 
> I sincerely hope you enjoy!

First Years

“Armin Arlert!”

A young boy, short for eleven, with a cleanly combed mop of blonde hair on his head, jumped at the sound of his name and scurried forward with a nervous determination. He gave Professor Smith a shy nod before settling down on the seat. The Sorting Hat was so big on him that it covered most of his face. One could practically see the anxiety radiating off of the young boy, his shoulders tense as his tiny hands clenched into fists against his knees. 

The Sorting Hat jerked to life, humming thoughtfully as it assessed the child it rested upon. “Hmm, tricky one, you are. You have an incredible intellect and desire to learn. You’d make an excellent Ravenclaw. Yet you are also fiercely loyal to those you love; the makings of a model Hufflepuff. But no… you are more than that.” Beneath the hat, Armin began to swing his legs gently, biting his lip as the hat’s voice continued musing in his head. “Hmm, yes. Yes I know. Better be… GRYFFINDOR!” 

The Great Hall thundered with applause, particularly from the table furthest to Armin’s left. The hat was lifted from his head and he blinked at the table full of red and black. He jumped off the stool and moved quickly towards the table, receiving numerous pats on the head and back and whoops of congratulations from his fellow housemates. The smile on his face was enough to make every heart at the table melt. 

An assortment of first years were assigned their houses: Blause to Hufflepuff, Bodt to Ravenclaw, Braun to Gryffindor. 

“Eren Jaeger!”

A young boy, average height for his age, with gleaming green eyes and brunette hair moved forward, energy pulsing through his entire body. The look of determination on his young face declared his house to the room before the Sorting Hat was even placed on his head. 

“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat pronounced not even three seconds after landing on his head. Eren beamed, practically running towards the table and sliding into the seat right next to Armin. The older students greeted him with the same affectionate cheers and pats on the head as the other first years had received. When the commotion died down, all attention turning back to the front, Eren turned his emerald eyes on Armin. 

“Hi,” he greeted, holding out his hand to the blonde. “I’m Eren.”

“Armin.” The other boy accepted the brunette’s hand gladly. 

“That’s a cool name,” Eren said in reply. “Want to be friends?”

“Y-yeah. That would be nice,” Armin said with a nod that sent a ripple through his long hair. Eren laughed, a clear, happy sound that made Armin smile. 

~  
That night, in the dormitories, Eren and Armin chose beds right next to one another. They stayed up, later than they’d intended, talking for hours. It wasn’t everyday that you met your new best friend. There were important things to establish: preferred name, favorite color, childhood pets, number of siblings, pureblood, halfblood, or muggle born (not that either particularly cared, but it was something one had to know these days), wand types, favorite flavor of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.

“Hey Eren, can I tell you something?” Armin asked, his voice growing quiet after a round of laughter concealed in their pillows so as not to wake the other boys. 

“Of course,” Eren answered. Armin took a deep breath, staring at the silhouette of his friend in the dark. 

“I really don’t know why I’m in Gryffindor,” he admitted. “I… I’m really not all that brave.” 

Eren’s eyebrows knit together, blinking at the outline of Armin facing him. “What do you mean? You had the guts to talk to me.”

“But you talked to me first,” Armin insisted. “That was you being brave, not me. I just… I don’t know. I feel like the Sorting Hat maybe got it wrong.” 

“Hey,” Eren said, his voice soft and soothing. “Give it time. Maybe you’re braver than you think.” Armin shrugged even though he knew Eren couldn’t see it in the dark. “Just you wait, Armin. I think you’re going to prove to be the bravest of us all.”

“We’ll see,” the blonde replied. “Goodnight Eren.”

“Goodnight Armin.” 

Second Years

“I don’t know what went wrong,” Eren sighed, running his hands through his hair and staring sadly at the failed potion before them. “Armin, we did everything right, didn’t what? What happened?”

“I don’t know!” the blonde cried, flipping through his potions book and cross-referencing their directions. “We used four sprigs of lavender, two measures of standard ingredient… that is standard ingredient right?” Eren took the pouch on the table and warily sniffed the contents. He nodded. “Okay, so we did that right. We only used two blobs of flobberworm mucus. Left it for seventy minutes. Added four valerian sprigs. You stirred it seven times, correct?”

“Yes,” Eren nodded. 

“Clockwise?” 

“Yes!” Eren exclaimed, collapsing against the table, head in his arms. “Armin, Levi’s going to kill us!” Armin bit his lip, looking back and forth from his friend to the failed potion. They’d done everything right, he knew they did. What had happened then?

“Mister Jaeger and Mister Arlert.”

Both boys jumped, spines straightening as their veins turned to ice at the voice of the Potions Master. 

“Yes, Professor?” Armin squeaked. 

“I assume you have brewed a suitable Sleeping Draught if Mister Jaeger feels that he has the privilege of sleeping in my class,” Professor Levi Ackermen droned, standing in front of the boy’s worktable with a deep scowl and his hands clasped behind his back. 

“I-I wasn’t sleeping!” Eren defended. “I swear, sir.” 

Levi clicked his tongue, then took at look at their potion. “This is unacceptable. I expect better, especially from you, Mister Arlert. It appears that I will have to assign you both one hour of detention tonight for failing the assignment.” Armin felt his heart stop. Detention? 

“But sir, we did it right, I swear!” Eren argued as Armin tried not to cry. 

“Rules are rules, Jaeger, and I told you all that you had to get the potion right this time or detention,” Levi snapped back, his tone sharp and commanding. Eren huffed, crossing his arms over his chest in defeat as Levi waltzed away to intimidate the next table. 

“I’m so sorry, Armin,” the brunette whispered. “It’s probably my fault we screwed up.”

“N-no, it’s okay,” the blonde replied, pulling in a shaking breath. “At least we’ll have detention together, right?” Eren tried to smile reassuringly at his friend, but couldn’t at the sight of the tears in his big blue eyes. Eren opened his mouth to say something but Armin shook his head. “Let’s just start cleaning up, okay?” 

Eren nodded soundlessly as Armin collected their extra ingredients and moved off towards the supply closet. He pulled the door open, brushing his right eye against his shoulder to wipe away the tears that were slowly starting to spill over when his eye caught something. Sitting on the shelf were five sprigs of valerian. Just sitting plainly on the shelf. Or, more specifically, the shelf of the Slytherins who sat at the worktable next to Eren and Armin and happened to share their cupboard. Armin blinked, putting down the material in his hands and picking up the extra ‘valerian’ sprig they’d had at the table. While the two plants looked terribly similar, they were definitely two different plants. 

“Eren!” Armin exclaimed. The brunette ran over, green eyes wide. 

“What is it?” 

“Look!” the blonde said excitedly, holding up the two plants. Eren smiled warily. 

“What about it?” he asked. 

“Someone switched our valerian with something else! We did make the potion right,” Armin answered. “We have to tell Professor Levi!”

“No, no, no,” Eren protested, shaking his head. He placed a gentle hand on Armin’s shoulder. “He’s already mad at us. I don’t want you to get in any more trouble for telling on someone.”

“Then I won’t tell on anyone,” Armin replied, sweeping past Eren and walking as fast as he could over to the teacher. “Professor Levi?” The man turned around and Armin swallowed hard, willing his confidence to hold up. “Sir, I just discovered that Eren and I mixed up an ingredient with our potion.” He showed him the two plants, the one sprig of their plant and five unused sprigs of valerian. Professor Levi reached forward and touched the valerian sprigs. His eyebrows arched upwards. 

“Hm…” the man clicked to himself. His eyes then shot up to the worktable immediately next to Armin and Eren’s to find the Slytherin boys crowded there looking rather nervous. 

“No, Mister Arlert, you did not mix up anything,” the professor answered. “You and Mister Jaeger are both freed of your detention duties, this time.” 

“Thank you, sir,” Armin said with a barely contained smile. He turned and walked back to his table where Eren was shaking his head. “Guess who just got us out of detention?” 

Eren chuckled. “And you said you weren’t cut out to be a Gryffindor. I’ve heard of sixth years who chickened out telling Professor Levi someone tampered with their potion,” the brunette said with a proud smile. “Guess you’re braver than you thought.”

Armin shrugged. “I just really didn’t want to get detention.” 

Third Years

“Now listen, students. Hippogriffs are extremely proud creatures. Offending one could very well be more deadly than encountering the giant squid in the Black Lake,” Professor Zacharias said as the third years stared wide-eyed at the three majestic creatures gathered before them with the head, wings, and front legs of an eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a horse. Eren was grateful for the lack of Slytherins, who would no doubt mock the whole experience and ruin it for the others. He’d never been so thankful that the Gryffindors shared Care of Magical Creatures class with the Ravenclaws, who were much more likely to show their excitement at the prospect of such amazing beasts. “There’s a proper etiquette one must follow when encountering a Hippogriff. Can anyone tell me what you must do in order to approach a Hippogriff properly?” A number of hands shot in the air. “Yes, Mr. Bodt?”

“To properly approach a Hippogriff, you have to bow to him or her while maintaining eye contact and wait until the Hippogriff bows back to reach your hand out to them,” Marco Bodt, a brunette Ravenclaw with freckles dusting his face, answered brightly. Professor Zacharias nodded. 

“Very good,” he said. “Did everyone hear Mr. Bodt? I would hope so because that is exactly what you will be doing today.” He moved closer to a Hippogriff with a chestnut colored coat, his steps very slow. “I want to see each of you properly approach one of these Hippogriffs, executing a correct greeting, just like I’m about to show you.” The man turned to the creature he’d stopped a safe ten feet away from. 

“First, you must approach the Hippogriff slowly as I have. Then, you bow,” the professor said, bringing an arm forward and bowing slowly, gracefully, to the creature. “You want to make sure you are keeping eye contact with the Hippogriff as well, as another sign of respect. And avoid blinking as much as possible.” The man remained bowed in front of the creature for an agonizing minute before the beast shook its head and bowed its head in return. “And now, if your Hippogriff has allowed it, you may move forward, again very slowly with your hand extended, and pet the creature’s head gently.” Professor Zacharias did just that, stepping towards the Hippogriff and lovingly stroking its head. He removed his hand before addressing the students again. “Who wants to go first?”

No one moved. The sounds of shuffling feet could be heard. “Oh, come on. Hippogriffs are hardly as scary as your textbooks. If you follow the steps, you’ll be just fine.” Still no one moved. “Seriously? Ravenclaws, you love procedure, you should be all over this. And Gryffindors, you’re all about adventure. Come on, guys. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

“I’ll do it.”

All eyes turned to the short blonde boy with his hand raised slightly in the air. Professor Zacharias smiled. 

“Thank you, Mr. Arlert,” he said, ushering the boy forward. Armin made eye contact with a Hippogriff with copper colored feathers. Without letting his gaze falter, the thirteen-year-old stepped forward cautiously till he was eight feet from the creature. Armin felt very mechanical as he held his arm in front of him, bowing carefully while trying not the blink. The Hippogriff’s brown eyes bored into his, as if they were trying to read his soul, or discern whether or not to tear him to shreds. It was probably the latter. Armin’s heart was beating a mile a minute in his chest. 

The copper colored Hippogriff gave a sweeping bow. A bright smile lit up Armin’s face as whispers of approval began to move through the crowd behind him. The blonde held his hand out as he walked slowly to the creature. The feathers were soft under his palm as the Hippogriff let him pet its head. 

“Wow. Who is that?” a Ravenclaw girl asked. 

“That’s Armin,” Eren answered. 

“He’s really brave,” the girl replied. 

“You bet he is,” Eren said with a proud smile. If the girl had looked closer, she would’ve seen something more than just innocent admiration in his eyes as he stared at the blonde boy petting the Hippogriff. But she didn’t. 

Fourth Years

“Okay, this really isn’t all that hard.”

“Eren, I was traumatized,” Armin stated plainly, staring at the broomstick with wide blue eyes. “I can hardly look at that thing.”

“Come on, Armin, I promise it’ll be better this time,” Eren said, trying to be as convincing as possible. “Those practice brooms are dodgy and old. This one is nothing like that.” He ran his hand along the handle of his quidditch broomstick (Armin hadn’t caught the name). The blonde shook his head, his hair flapping around his ears. 

“No. I can’t do it,” he argued. 

Eren sighed. “Armin, you are a Gryffindor. That means that you have to love trying new things.”

“I do love trying new things. Flying isn’t new. I’ve tried flying. I hate flying,” Armin replied, backing away. Eren took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. 

“What if I go with you?” the brunette asked, looking up at Armin with hopeful green eyes. Armin cocked his head to the side. “We’d both fit on the broom. It’ll be a little tight, but we’d manage. How does that sound?”

Armin bit his lip, looking away at the ground, his fingers working at the scarf around his neck. The thought of flying still made his blood run cold, but if Eren was there… 

The blond gave a small, nervous nod. Eren’s grin lit up the night. “Awesome! Come on!” Armin shuffled forward. Eren motioned for him to get on first. With a dramatic sigh Armin mounted the broom, the memories of their first year filling his head. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the images of him falling on his face to go away. They disappeared as soon as he felt Eren behind him. 

“Okay, we have to kick off together, all right?” Eren’s voice said in his ear. Armin stiffened at their proximity, but nodded. He couldn’t tell what was making him more anxious: Eren or flying. “On my count, three… two… one!” 

Both boys kicked off against the ground and were airborne, moving up, up, up until they were high as the castle roof. Armin’s entire body went rigid, unconsciously leaning back against Eren. The brunette chuckled, the sound like music notes in Armin’s ear. 

“How you doing, buddy?” Eren asked. 

“Mmmmmm,” Armin whimpered, unable to form words. 

“Just relax. We won’t be up here long,” Eren replied soothingly. “Just hold on and enjoy the view.” Man, I can feel the fear radiating off of him, the brunette though to himself. I can fix that.

Armin’s grip on the handle was tight enough for his knuckles to go stark white as Eren steered the broom in a sweeping right turn. The blonde’s eyes were wide open, but seeing nothing. The cool, night wind rushing against his face continually reminded him that he was flying, doing something horrifyingly dangerous.

“Armin, look,” Eren whispered. Armin blinked, his vision clearing. In front of him, or more below him, stood the black lake, shimmering with the light of the full moon. An involuntary gasp left the blonde boy as he took in the sight of the rippling water and swaying treetops on the bank. It was breathtaking. 

“Eren, it’s beautiful,” Armin breathed softly. The brunette smiled, resting his head on the blonde’s shoulder. Armin tensed at the sudden contact, but soon relaxed. It felt good having Eren so close. 

“Good,” the brunette said. “Because the first time I saw it, I knew you’d love it and I’ve made it my mission to take you flying ever since.” 

Armin glanced back as much as he could. “When did you decide that?”

Eren smiled. “October of our first year.” 

Fifth Years

“Armin, please?”

“Eren, no,” the blonde replied flipping a page in his book. Eren collapsed against the table. 

“This is going to take me hours!” he complained, staring at the empty roll of parchment where his potions essay was supposed to be. 

“Then you should have started it sooner,” Armin replied simply. Eren sighed. 

“Please can I just look at yours? Not even copy it… well, word for word anyway.”

Armin put his book down, staring hard at Eren with piercing blue eyes. “Eren, I said no. I’m a prefect now, which means I’m responsible for regulating the rules. Cheating is against the rules. Therefore, you may not cheat off of me to complete an assignment you should have been working on all week.” The blonde turned his eyes back to his book. 

Eren sat back in his chair, arms crossing over his chest. “Armin, you know I was busy with quidditch this week. We faced Hufflepuff Tuesday, and the big game against Slytherin is tomorrow.”

“I don’t care,” Armin replied. “You still could’ve found time here and there to work on your essay.”

“Come on, you can’t bend the rules a little for your best friend?” Eren wheedled. Armin looked up again, a flash of shock momentarily obscuring his face. Eren felt a slightly pang in his heart for pulling that card, but only slightly because it might’ve worked. But Armin just shook his head. 

“I’ll be a better friend to you in the end if I make you do this now. It’ll help you study for the OWLs and teach you responsibility,” he answered. Eren sighed, then laughed, catching himself before the librarian yelled at him for being too loud. Armin’s thick eyebrows knit together. “What?”

“Damn, Armin. You must be pretty brave if you can stand up to your best friend like that,” Eren said. Armin blushed, looking away. 

“You can stop telling me I’m brave, you know. It’s… it’s been a while since I’ve even thought about it,” he said quietly. “I’ve almost accepted it now, you know?”

“But do you agree?” Eren asked. “Do you really feel that you are as courageous as we think you are?” Armin shrugged looking away. “Hey.” The blonde looked back, seeing Eren’s hand extended to him across the table. The tiniest of smiles broke on Armin’s face as he reached forward and gently placed his hand in Eren’s. “You are much braver than you believe yourself to be. Even if you ‘accepted’ your house, that doesn’t mean you’ve accepted yourself. And I really think you should, because your something really special, Armin.”

“Thank you, Eren,” Armin whispered, his voice soft with gratitude and something else, something sweeter. “You’re my best friend.” 

Sixth Years

Armin squeaked as a small explosion went off in front of his face, causing him to drop his books. His face went bright red as he knelt down to pick them up, the sound of laughter echoing through the hallway. 

“Hey!” Eren shouted at the offenders (Armin didn’t know who yet but he guessed seventh year Slytherins. Eren was always ready to fight a Slytherin). “What was that for?”

“Oh, sorry. Did we scare your boyfriend?” a mockingly sweet voice taunted. Armin felt as though his face was going to explode, burning even brighter with embarrassment. He sunk further into his red and gold scarf, hiding his cheeks within the fabric as he stood so Eren wouldn’t see the effect those words had on him. 

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Eren exclaimed. “But either way, that’s no reason for you to tease him.”

“Relax, would ya? We tease everyone,” a second voice added flippantly. “It’s not like we were specifically targeting your… friend, here.” Eren’s eyes narrowed at the boy’s insinuation. 

“Besides, you don’t have to deny anything. I’ve seen you two holding hands in the library,” a third voice, a girl piped up maliciously. Eren tensed next to Armin as the Slytherins began to laugh, knowing they were technically right. 

“Hey, leave them alone!” The voice of Reiner Braun seemingly came out of nowhere, and before they knew it, their blonde friend was standing next to Eren, trailed by his tall friend Bertholdt Hoover from Ravenclaw. “You’re just jealous that Eren and Armin have something you don’t.” Armin dug his face deeper into his scarf. As much as he loved and appreciated Reiner trying to help, Reiner was not helping. 

“And what might that be?” the first male asked playfully. 

“Love,” Reiner said, stringing an arm around Eren’s shoulder and looping the other around Bertholdt for good measure. “Whether it be platonic or not, that is the one thing separating us from you. Maybe you’ll learn it one day, but right now, it seems to me that Eren and Armin have won the war.” The Slytherins stood in shock, staring at Reiner. Eren was staring at the blonde too, surprised that he’d worked up such eloquent words at such short notice. 

Armin took advantage of the silence to pull his wand from the pocket of his robe and gave it a gentle flick in the direction of the group of students. “Glacius,” he muttered. A thin layer of ice covered the floor surrounding the offending Slytherins, covering their shoes and effectively imprisoning them to the floor. 

“Hey!” the girl squeaked. “You can’t do that!”

“Sorry, did my boyfriend scare you?” Armin asked sarcastically, throwing an arm around Eren’s shoulders. “Relax, would ya? It’s only what you deserve.” 

The four sixth years turned and walked away, leaving the seventh years to unfreeze their feet. Eren wrapped his arm around Armin’s shoulder and gaze it a squeeze. 

“I’m sorry they were jerks to you,” the brunette said. Armin shrugged. 

“I’m used to it,” he said in reply. “But hey, we sure told them, didn’t we?” Eren smiled over at him. 

“So, not to pry or anything, but are you two, you know, actually a thing?” Reiner asked, glancing over at the duo. 

“N-no!” Armin replied quickly, shaking his head vigorously as Eren sputtered, “No!” Both looked at each other quickly, cheeks glowing red before looking away. Reiner chuckled. 

“Okay,” he said. 

“Well what about you two?” Eren fired back. 

“N-no!” Bertholdt replied, holding his hands up defensively. 

“Not yet,” Reiner smirked with a wink. Eren turned back to Armin as their two friends started arguing lightly about that sentiment. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Armin simply nodded, burying his face in his scarf again. 

You think I’m brave, Eren, he thought. I’m still not so sure.

Seventh Years

“Hey, Head Boy.”

Armin jumped just a little at the sound of Eren’s new nickname for him. Not that it was all that creative of a nickname, but Head Boy wasn’t something to be taken lightly. Armin had literally jumped up and down for fifteen minutes when he’d heard then news.

“Ready for the game?” the brunette asked, leaning against the doorframe. Armin smiled, casually admiring Eren’s tall, thin frame as he put his book away and stood up. 

“You bet,” Armin answered with a smile. He’d gotten taller (had been slowly over the years) but Eren still had him by an inch. He moved to the doorway. Eren didn’t move. 

“Your hair’s gotten long,” Eren commented. Armin shrugged, instinctively pulling his shoulder length blonde hair behind his ear. He was planning to pull it up later. “When did that happen?”

“This summer,” Armin answered. “You said the same thing when we got back here.”

“I know,” Eren said quietly. “I just like it, that’s why.”

Armin blushed looking away. They hadn’t talked about the ‘boyfriend’ thing since the incident during their sixth year. It had always been tugging at the back of Armin’s mind, though. 

“Do you still think the Sorting Hat got it wrong?” Eren asked offhandedly with a charming smile. 

Armin’s lips curved upwards. “Guess there’s only one way to find out.” He leaned in, firmly pressing his lips against Eren’s, clasping his hands around the brunette’s face so he couldn’t pull away. To his surprise, Eren didn’t move a muscle. 

Armin pulled back, blue eyes gleaming, with a proud smile on his face. His hands settled on his hips. Eren blinked. “What was that?” the brunette asked, his dark eyebrows knitting together. 

“The true test of my bravery,” Armin answered plainly. “It would be easy for me to just tell you how I feel about you and accept your answer in words. The harder option was to show you, and consequently receive an answer likewise in action.”

A mischievous glint flashed through Eren’s emerald eyes. “And are you satisfied with your answer?” 

Armin shrugged. “Dunno. You haven’t answered yet.” 

“Armin Arlert,” Eren said, shaking his head slightly as a crept its way onto his lips. “I think you are, without a doubt, the bravest of us all.” 

Ten minutes later, as he peeked his head in the room to tell them that the group was heading out to watch the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin game, Reiner found the two of them awkwardly wrapped in each other’s arms, lips pressed together like the world was ending. The blonde wasted no time in shutting the door and leaving them be. He’d seen it coming since day one and saw no reason to ruin the moment they’d all secretly been waiting for.

**Author's Note:**

> Mischief Managed!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Please don't hesitate to leave some feedback before you go!


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